Vishu is almost here and it is one of my favorite festival dish. Ada Pradhaman forms an integral part of Kerala feast/sadya menu. It is prepared with jaggery, rice ada, coconut milk and is especially popular during the festival of vishu and onam. Ada pradhaman is the king of all payasams and a signature dish of Kerala. Pradhaman and payasam both are different, the main difference between a pradhaman and payasam is that in pradhaman we uses coconut milk and jaggery, while in payasam we use white sugar and cow’s milk. Last time I tried pradhaman with homemade ada/ rice chips. This time I found a packet of readymade ada at my store. So lets see the preparation with step by step cooking pictures follows.

The most important event in vishu is the ‘vishukkani’, which literally means “the first thing seen on the day of vishu after waking up”. The vishukkani consists of a ritual arrangement signify prosperity including fruits, rice, vegetables, mirror, yellow flower known as ‘kanikonna’ and coins. This all well arranged and set at night before vishu and is the first sight seen on vishu. Moving on to the vishu feast/ sadya. It consist of variety of side dishes along with red Kerala rice. Finally dessert named payasam/pradhaman would be served and the most Important and my all time favorite is Ada pradhaman.

Tips- Here I have used dark jaggery, That give a appealing and nice color to the dish. Adjust the quantity of jaggery as per your sweet level. Adding more roasted cashew nuts and coconut enhance the taste of the dish, so do not skip. Use fresh coconut milk and more ghee for rich taste. The payasam will thicken once it cools, so while making make it in flowing consistency. If you want it more thicker, then you reduce the thin coconut milk accordingly. If you want you can even use coconut milk or tin coconut milk, but nothing to beat the taste of fresh coconut milk.